


Violets Are Baby Blue

by caraxreve



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-16
Updated: 2015-04-23
Packaged: 2018-03-13 05:43:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3369962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caraxreve/pseuds/caraxreve
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>High school boys, detention and French confections.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This work is not beta-ed. Please feel free to point any mistakes :).

 

It was forty five minutes past noon and Rin was not even halfway through his detention. He thought he would be used to it after four sessions, but he wasn’t. He still resented every minute of it, just as much as he resented this school and pretty much everyone in it.

He was on his way to get lunch when he recognized the distant scent of burnt bread.  He perked his head in alertness and sprint down the corridor. The smell came from the HomeEcon room, which was very strange. Afterall, it was Saturday and with the exception of the sport clubs, the school was supposed to be empty.

Rin pushed the door open and stared in disconcert. The usually spotless room was all over the place, and in the midst of it all, there was a boy with lavender hair rushing from the sink all the way to the oven. The moment he yanked the door open the stench of smoke filled the room and Rin was able to look at the funny looking circles he had extracted from inside. It was just then that the boy repaired on his presence. He jumped and dropped the tray, scattering the contents messily. 

“I’m sorry. You startled me.” he explained nervously as he got to his knees to gather the pieces.

Rin said nothing. He had had that effect on the students ever since the incident that had landed him here. Instead, he spared a hesitant look at the oven before grabbing a nearby rag and reaching down to pick up the hot tray.

 

“What are you doing here? This room is closed for the students on the weekends."

"I-I know that. But I have  special permission."

The boy pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and presented it to him.

"What are you showing me that for? I don't care.”

Rin went ahead and placed the tray on the sink, letting the water run to cool down the surface. He noticed the boy had followed him and was currently leaning over the sink rather close.

“I am here because of tomorrow’s Festival. I didn’t think it would be so much work! It was easier last year that we got Cards and Flowers. But I’m a second year now, and we get Confections. Of course, it’s still nothing compared to Games. Third years must have it twice as hard.”

 Rin actually stopped what he was doing and turned to stare at him skeptically.

“Are you new here or something?”

“Oh, no! Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself.  My name is Nitori Aiichirou, class 2C. Nice to meet you!”

 

Now that Rin thought about it he vaguely recalled seeing this boy before,  happily going about his business both in the cafeteria and the library. 

“Matsuoka Rin.” He stated defiantly.

“Oh, I know who you are! You’re 3A’s transfer student from abroad Matsuoka Rin! You’re ranked 2nd on the swimming team and top of your class!”

He blinked at the boy in utter disconcert. All of what he had said was true, but that was definitely not what people knew Rin for. 

 

“Anyways, I’m sorry I got in Matsuoka-Senpai’s way. Did you need something from the kitchen?”

Rin was a total loss as of why this boy remained ignorant of his reputation, but he was rather determined to keep it like that.

“Why are you here by yourself? Shouldn’t the rest of your group be doing this too?”

“Well the Uehara twins had their sister’s wedding. Tzusuki-chan is sick, and Rikawa-kun and Komatsu-chan are not answering their phones…”

“So you are doing the assigned batch of…” he looked around trying to draw a conclusion “What even is it that you’re doing?”

“Makaron!”

“What?” Rin chuckled.

“It’s a French confection that-”

“I _know_ what they are.” He took another glance at the room paying close attention to some of the ingredients. “You’re kidding, right?”

“No, Senpai. The school requires each group to make a batch of 50 of the confec-”

“You’re trying to make _50 macarons_ , for tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“All by yourself?”

“Well, yes…”

“Are you bad in the head?”

“N-No, why…?”

“Because making macarons is a pain in the ass? Because even accomplished bakers know that? Who even came up with such stupid idea?”

The boy lowered his eyes in mortification, and Rin let out an exasperated sigh.

“Everyone else agreed! Uehara-chan said it was a great idea because our group’s confections would definitely stand out from the others…”

“Yeah, charred goods is everyone Valentine’s dream…” Rin commented as he pointedly looked at a lonely burnt piece on the floor.

“I-I’ll get better I just need some time to practice and-”

“I don’t think so. Go home, kid. There’s no way in hell you can make this happen.”

 

Rin made sure the oven was turned off and made his way to the door, but when he heard a soft sob he immediately turned to fix his eyes on the boy’s trembling back. 

“Are you… crying?”

The boy shook his head and hurriedly wiped his face. Apparently living with the reputation of being a jerk had finally caught up with Rin and now he had actually started to become one. He took a hand to his neck and cautiously approached Nitori.

“Look, I just meant to save you time. It’s an impossible task, take my word for it. Besides, you don’t have to do this on your own. Just come up with some excuse like the rest of your teammates."

“No!” Nitori's eyes were flashing with determination. “We said we would! We took responsibility for this, so the least I can do is try!”

Rin pressed a palm to his forehead.

“Say, forget about _high level cuisine_. Have you ever even baked _anything_  before?”

“No… but this was my third attempt at Makaron. I can’t believe I’m still ruining them…”

Rin could. His eyes followed him curiously as the boy moved to the next table to retrieve his cellphone.

 

“I don’t understand how can this be happening. I’ve watched this at least fifteen times. What am I doing wrong?”

“Those things never work.”

Nitori raised his head up and looked at Rin questioningly.

"Tutorials. You're getting nowhere with those. Don’t you have a recipe instead?”

The boy reached for his bag and leaned over the table to hand Rin a bunch of scrunched up papers.

“What the hell is this? Why are you giving me all this trash for?”

“Those are the recipes. I wasn’t sure which one to use so I figured I’d try all of them until one worked…”

Rin breathed in and spread papers on a clear space of the table. He really couldn't decide who was he feeling more frustrated with: this clueless kid that evidently had no idea about life, or the rest of the group that had left him to fend for himself.  

 

“Got a pen?”

Nitori rummaged inside his bag and presented Rin a ballpoint pen with a small rosy-cheeked duckling on top. Rin eyed it warily and took it from Nitori’s hand with a sigh.

“All right. We’re going to stick to this one recipe, but we need to do some changes first. This is wrong. This is not even necessary. And the temperature should be _this_. Also you add the colorant before you do this, and after _this_ you need to sprinkle water on the tray to avoid overcooking.”

He put the pen down and Nitori reached for the paper with trembling hands.

“A-Amazing! How come Matsuoka-Senpai knows so much about this? I don’t understand.”

“My mother owns a bakery. I’ve seen her doing these a thousand times before.”

“Really?” the boy exclaimed eyes eager and full of wonder.

“Uh-Yeah...” 

“Senpai, that is so cool! Of course Matsuoka-senpai’s mom would have such a cool job! I bet she makes really good and delicious stuff!”

Rin faltered and tried to hide an inadvertent smile as he piled up some pots and plates and handled them to Nitori.

"Yeah. Anyways, you need to clean up this table. I can’t even distinguish one mess from the other...”

"Oh. Well, I can use this other table to-"

"No, you can’t. You clean _this one_. Stop scattering things around, contain your disaster. Now, where are the aprons?"

"I'm already wearing an apron, Senpai."

"Tch. I meant for me."

"What?"

"Well, I'm obviously going to have to show you how to do it…"

"Wha-Really?!"

~*~*~

 

Really. This kid was a mess and it was on Rin’s best interest to prevent a fire hazard. Not to mention, doing this was slightly better than spending the remaining four hours in the library. Afterall, he still was going to have do that next Saturday and the next… Besides, Rin was fully aware he could’ve done much worse than this boy on the subject of unexpected company.

Sure, cleaning Nitori’s mess hadn’t been easy and had taken way longer than expected; time during which Rin found out he was the kind of person that would blabber about every single detail that crossed his mind, couldn’t stay still for a full two secons, and was even more naïve that what Rin had alredy gathered from the first impression. But he also found out the boy had the sweetest laugh, was refreshingly honest and was far from being hard in the eye.

 

“Oi. Don’t you get tired of fluttering around all over the place like that?”

“S-Sorry! I didn’t mean to bother you, Senpai. I’ll stop now. It’s just, I’m so happy! I can’t believe my luck.”

“Look, I don’t particulaly mind this 'effervescent' thing of yours, as long as you understand that we have pretty hard work ahead. If you even as much as _dare_ think I’ll let your ass get away with getting tired and leaving me to do all the work-”

“Of course not! I’d never do that, Matsuoka- Senpai! I’ll work very hard! I promise. I’ll do anything you ask me to.”

“All right! No need to be so… convincing. I just wanted us to be clear. Now let’s see what you’ve got here… You’ve run out of eggs, and we’re definitely gonna need those. Also the jam, two jars are not enough to make the filling for fifty.”

“Oh! Well, that’s alright! I have money” Nitori explained as he went around the table to fetch the duckling pen and a piece of paper. “There’s a convinience store two blocks from here. I’ll go right now! What else you need me to buy, Matsuoka-senpai?”

Rin spared a look at the wallclock.

“I'm coming with you."

"What? T-That's really not necessary, Senpai!"

“It is.  It’s one hour past lunch time. I’m hungry, I want to eat something.”

“Oh! _Oh…._ ”

Rin noticed the dismayed expression on Nitori’s face and rolled his eyes knowingly.

"You forgot to bring lunch, didn’t you?"

"I…I figured I could just eat some of the Makaron leftovers…”

He chuckled and found himself giving Nitori a wry smile.

"Come on, grab your bag."

"A-Are we really going out for lunch?"

“Yeah. There’s a small ramen shop around the corner.”

“But, Senpai…” Nitori was pulling at the strap of his bag in a hesitant gesture.

“What? What is it?”

"I...I thought you weren’t allowed to leave the school. Won’t you be in trouble if we do?”

 

Rin froze. So he _did_ know. He had known from the start and yet, he had still willingly approached him. Rin fixed his eyes on him trying find something and got nothing. Nothing but the warm stare of Nitori's eyes.

“It’s fine. They won’t notice.” He assured him pulling the hood of his jacket over his head. “Now let’s go, I’m starving.”

~*~*~

 

They sat at the bar of the shop and placed their orders: Beef and Extra Spicy for Rin and Chicken Miso for Nitori. The latter entertained Rin with ramblings ranking from the true meaning of life to the description of a journal where he kept track of the doings of some water bug. Rin quietly stared at him during the whole time. Both confused and fascinated by the likes of Nitori and even _more_ confused and fascinated with the effect he was having on him.

Nitori drank down the remnants of the soup and put the bowl over the counter with a satisfied expression.

“Ah! This was so good. Thank you very much for bringing me here, Matsuoka-senpai!”

“You liked it?”

“Yes! This place is really nice. I can’t believe it’s so close to the school and yet I had never seen it before!”

“That’s because it’s new. I just found out about it two weeks ago. I’ve been coming here every Saturday ever since...”

Rin took his glass to his mouth as he realized he had unnecesarily gone back to that subject. He considered that at this point he probably owed Nitori some sort of explanation and so he braced himself for the uncomfortable questions... but they never came. Nitori just nodded and went back to commenting on the quality of the restaurant. 

 

Five minutes, later Rin asked the owner for the check; and when she extended it over, Nitori immediately reached for his bag.

"Leave it. It's on me." ~~~~

“What? No way, Senpai! I couldn’t possibly…” But the lady had already taken Rin’s money and was thanking him with a bow  “WAHH! No, Ma’m, please wait!”

Rin hopped off the stool.

"Seriously, leave it. Save your money for what we need to get from the store."

"B-But, Senpai! You are already going out of your way to help me. If anything it's me me who should be-"

“Fine. I'm leaving you behind then.”

“Ah! No, Senpai! Please, don't leave me!”

Nitori almost knocked down the stool trying to catch up with him. And while he hurriedly apologized to the owner,  Rin couldn’t help but smile to himself fondly.

~*~*~

 

When they stepped inside the store, however, Nitori was still hanging on the subject.

"Leave it..."

“Well since Matsuoka-senpai treated me to lunch, maybe I can get you something from the convenience store. How about a nice hot chocolate?  Or maybe you prefer coffee?”

“I don’t want any of that! I already need to use the bathroom as it is...”

“Oh, okay. Go ahead then. I’ll go get the jam and the eggs in the meantime.”

“Forget about the jam. What we need is more sugar. Make sure it’s powdered and not regular, though.  We're going to need some buter too. Get two of the biggest packs you find, and don’t forget the eggs.”

“Got it!”

Nitori turned around to grab a basket and happily sprinted off . Rin watched after him trying to understand how on earth had he even managed to get involved with this boy. 

 

Once he finished his bathroom business, Rin went to look for Nitori over the dairy products.  He was just about to turn down the next aisle when he heard a group of agitated voices talking behind the shelves. 

“… you doing with _that guy_ , Nitori?”

Rin froze. He heard Nitori utter a reply but his heart was beating so loud the words were lost on him. 

“Well, nobody in the school really likes him.” A shy girl's voice said.

"Why would you say that, Tatsumi-chan?"

“Because she knows what he did to Endo-senpai.”  

This was yet another girl’s voice. She sounded really pissed. And apparently so was Nitori judging by the way he had scoffed at her. 

“He and his friends ganged upon him, it was only natural for him to fight back.”

“Endo-senpai would never attack someone! He got the worse out of that fight! I can't even imagine what would have happened if Saotome-sensei hadn’t gotten there in time to stop them!”

“Yeah. I _too_ wonder what would  have happened to that cat if Matsuoka-senpai hadn’t gotten there in time…”

“There was no cat! Matsuoka Rin attacked them unprovoked!”

“Matsuoka-senpai is a student on a scholarship. Endo-san’s father payed for the new computer lab! _Of course_ no one is mentioning the cat!”

“Mika-chan, Nitori-kun. Please don’t fight!”

“Eira-chan is right." Nitori's male friend interrupted "This is no place to be fighting. We didn’t mean to upset you, we were just concerned. Even if what you say it's true, you have to admit, Matsuoka Rin is a bit… weird.”

There was a heavy pause. 

“What did you say?”

“Well, I just-”

“Matsuoka Rin is isolated, taciturn and thinks he’s better than everyone else... That’s what he said.”

“O-Oi! I didn't-"

“You obviously don’t know what you’re talking about. Matsuoka-senpai, is smart, hard working and very nice! He’s the coolest person I know!

“N-Nitori-kun, please don’t get mad. Like Shoji-kun said, we were just concerned about-”

“No. He's amazing and you’re just jealous of him!”

There was a small yelp and a scoff and then angry sound of stomping as Nitori shoved past them. Rin immediately hurried to other side of the store.

 

He blindly made his way through the aisles. Heart racing at the fierce and unwavering way Nitori had stood up for him. Chest burning with an undescribable but overwhelming feeling of wanting to cry, longing for something and bursting with pride all at the same time. 

 

“Oh! there you are, Senpai!”

Rin heard his voice and snapped out of it; blinking foolishly when noticed he had inadvertently walked himself to the register.

“Uh…yeah sorry, I just… did you get everything we need?”

“Yes! And hot chocolate! Are you sure you don’t want something for yourself, Senpai?”

Nitori smiled at him brightly, hand reaching over the counter to grab the bag. And in that moment Rin fell for him, _hard._  

"I’m fine...”

“Okay. Let’s head back and get to work then!”

 

He felt his face flushing and his heart beating wildly. He wanted to say something but he didn’t know anything appropiate enough. He caught up with Nitori at the exit, and took the bag from his hand instead. Their fingers brushed briefly and Rin's whole body felt a little warmer.

“Ah! Y-You don’t have to do that! I can carry it myself, Matsuoka-senpai”

“I want to.” He mumbled adjusting his hoodie to hide his face “And just _Rin_ is fine _._ ”

 

~*~*~


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin likes him... but does he like Rin?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry about taking so long to update. I wasn't feeling very well, but now I'm a bit better and I'm back :).  
> Thank you so much for the kind support and your patience.

 

Just a few blocks before reaching the school entrance, Nitori’s cellphone beeped with a message alert.

“Matsuo-I mean, Rin-senpai, I just got a text from Rikawa-kun!”

“I don’t know who that is.”

“He’s one of the members of my team...”

“Oh…” _Absolutely not._ Nitori was one thing, but Rin was more than far from interested in hosting a cooking workshop for a bunch of kids. "So someone’s finally showing up or what?”

“Uh… no. He says that he forgot about the meeting and that he’s sorry but he won’t be able to make it. That maybe he could come for an hour at the most... He also wants to know if we need him to bring anything…”

“Tch.” Rin attempted to disguise his relief under feigned annoyance.  “What we needed was for him, and _all_ of them for that matter, to be here on time.”

He reached out his hand, asking for Nitori’s phone and started typing a reply. 

“What are you going to tell him, Senpai?”

“I’m sending his lazy ass downtown.”

“On a Saturday!”

He flashed Nitori a self-satisfied smile.

“What? You deserve some  _real_ nice packaging supplies.”

 

~*~*~

They got back to the school and immediately got to work. Rin patiently showing Nitori sections of the elaborate process beforehand and guiding him through every step: sieving the almond and sugar mix, preparing the buttercream filling, boiling the caramel, beating the egg whites to stiff peaks and adding the tricky syrup to make the meringue.

Nitori kept his promise, he worked hard to follow Rin’s directions to the point and put extreme care and effort in every detail. Rin was even able to overlook his natural propensity to cause mess and ended up actually enjoying himself.

 

He was just finishing the peanut paste when Nitori’s phone chirped for a second time.

“It’s Rikawa-kun. He says he’ll be at the gate in five minutes, Senpai. I’ll go pick up the stuff and I’ll be right back!”

"Hold it there. Before you go, I need to add the color to the mix now. What color do you want them to be?”

“Red of course!”

Rin sighed.

“Don’t be silly. It’s Valentine ’s Day, everything will be red! Didn’t you get into this mess because you guys wanted your candy to stand out? Think again. You can literally pick _any_ color.”

“Well yeah, but… I still like red.” He glanced at Rin shyly, baby blue eyes shifting in eager anticipation and sending a hot wave through Rin’s chest.

“Tch. Whatever. Just go get the stuff. I’ll see what I can do…”

Nitori nodded, and practically pranced his way out of the room.

And Rin _did_ go with red, but only for half the batch, he went with baby blue for the rest.

 

~*~*~

The baking process went on smoothly, and as soon as the pieces cooled off, they proceeded to put them together. While Rin put the filling on half the shells with the help of a pastry bag, Nitori placed the sticks in between and put the remaining shell on top.

Once they were done, both boys went ahead and placed them inside small cellophane bags. Then Nitori took charge of cutting 3 inches segments of silky black ribbon and handed them to Rin who made tiny bows to wrap the lollipops close. When Nitori saw the final result his eyes were shining.

“WAHH! Senpai, you were so right! These are beatiful!” Nitori grabbed one lollipop of each color and placed them next to each other.  “They look so nice together! I’m sure people are going to want to buy them as a set.”

Rin didn’t said anything in favor of hiding the self-satisfied smile on his face caused by Nitori’s observation. 

“They are so pretty... I’m going to take some pictures so I can show them to my little sister! It’s too bad there weren’t any left to spare, I wish she could’ve tried them…”

“I’ll bring you half a dozen on Monday. Believe me, these are nothing compared to the ones my mom makes. ”

“Ah! Y-You don’t have to do that! You already did too much, Senpai.”

Rin turned his back to him with a shrug. 

"Okay then."

“Huh?”

“I won’t bring you any.”

“No, Senpai, it’s not that! It’s just… A-Although- I’d really like to try them. I mean, they’re Rin-senpai’s mom’s recipe! I bet they taste really amazing…”

He trailed off with an uneasy sigh and Rin just gave him a knowing smirk for an answer.

"Do you want them or not?"

"Yes! Of course!"

“Then don’t say you don’t. Now come on, let’s take these over to the fridge to keep them freshly preserved until tomorrow."

“I _do_ want them, Rin-senpai. You already helped me a lot, though.  In fact, I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t been here. I-I can’t believe I actually I thought could handle this alone!”

“Hey. Stop beating yourself up, you did fine! Unlike the rest of them you _at least_ had the decency to show up, right?.”

“Well, I knew the Uehara twins weren’t coming. They had their big sister’s wedding. I spoke with Mai-chan three days ago and she offered for her and Misato-chan to take entire responsibility of the festival as long as the rest of us took care of things today, but…”

“Well, don’t you dare show up tomorrow. You already did more than enough. Let them figure it own on their own.”

“But…”

Rin looked at him pointedly, eyebrows arched in incredulity.

“I was hoping… I mean, I-Isn’t Rin-senpai going to be here tomorrow?”

He let out an amused chuckle. 

“Of course not! I am banned from participating in all extracurricular activities,for an indefinite period of time. Can’t really complain though, quite the opposite actually.”

“Oh!" Nitori smiled brightly "Well then I definitely won’t be coming tomorrow, Senpai.”

 

Rin was so used to giving cynical answers that it was only then the implications of Nitori’s words hit him. The natural honest way he had of showing unwavering loyalty to him, as if they hadn't just talked to each other for the first time a few hours ago but had been doing so since forever. As if he intended to keep it like that from this day on if only Rin would let him.  He cleared his throat in what he hoped came through as a nonchalant gesture.

“Good, you shouldn't. Speaking of which... I still have to go to the library to sign my leave, so...”

“Of course Senpai, you go first! I’ll finish cleaning here.”

"Alright..." His heart sped up in distress at having achieved the contrary of what he had expected "but I mean… the thing is, I take the train too. So you wait here, and then we can leave together. I... because, It’s getting dark... after all… ”

Rin felt himself choking on the mortyfying sensation of his cheeks getting warmer. He avoided the other boy's gaze and dug for his cellphone distractedly, fervently hoping he wouldn't notice. Whether he noticed or not, however, Nitori immediately put him out of his misery agreeing all to eagerly to Rin's proposition.

 “Okay. I’ll wait right here for Senpai to come back!”

Rin nodded and left the room making a smooth exit, mouth morphing into an uncontainable grin as soon as he was out of sight.  

~*~*~

Now, he had wanted to ask him out the moment they left school, after all, Aiichirou had had sort of already suggested it himself.

Rin had already decided on asking him to come to his mother’s bakery. He’d get to show him around and they could have fancy desserts. After how much Nitori had enjoyed himself today Rin thought he would definitely like that. The plan was perfect and there was but the smallest possibility of rejection. Nevertheless, Rin was practically shaking at the mere thought of voicing it, so he had kept postponing it 'just for the next few minutes' and before he knew they had already reached the train station. He started to panic. 

They stepped on the platform, (Aiichirou still going on about how fascinating he found that some countries implemented the Day Saving Time schedules) and he realized time was running out. There didn’t seem to be any way to casually slip the subject into the conversation as he had hoped to... Rin thought he might as well just say it directly.

“Oi, Nit- I mean… Ai.”

The other boy did stop talking then and stared at Rin with a mixture of awe and sloppily contained excitement. Rin gathered up his courage from there.

"Would you like to- if you don't have plans-"

And then Nitori’s cellphone cut in by means of an overly cheerful song. They both jumped and the latter immediately shoved his arm inside his bag. Once he pulled the phone out, he stole a peek at the screen and his eyes widened  in concern.

“Ah!  S-Sorry, Senpai. I _really_ need to take this. It’ll be just a moment, okay?”

Before Rin could even reply, Nitori turned his back to him and exclaimed joyfully at the phone.

“Sachiko!”

 

Rin felt it like a literal blow to his chest, and everything around him became gradually dull as Nitori pressed his head closer to the phone and placed a hand over his ear.

“No, I didn’t forget! ...I’m sorry… didn't mean to keep you waiting.”

He couldn’t really hear the rest of the conversation because the train was quickly approaching the stop. And it was not like he needed to, or wanted to for that matter, he had heard more than enough. He willed his legs to move and lunged forward.  By the time Nitori had hung up Rin was already half way through to the sliding doors.

“Senpai? Wait!”

““Train’s here. Gotta go.” 

“O- Okay,” Nitori’s confused voice barely carried all the way to the cart but he still tried again  “See you on Monday, though?”

Rin waved at him in acknowledgement but didn't bother to look back.

~*~*~

And yet, from the moment they had parted, Nitori had been the only thing on his mind. During his way back home, (which incidentally, took twice as long since Rin had actually jumped inside the first random train as a coping mechanism and had had to change stations at least three times after that), during both the time of preparation and consumption of Saturday Night's family dinner and even after that, when he sat down to watch the artsy film his sister and her cousins were watching. In the end he concluded it was better to just go to bed already. If the boy was going to hunt his head inevitably, he’d rather have it happen during his dreams; where, unlike reality  _something_ could actually happen between them.

Then of course he wasn’t even granted this small mercy. Nitori never showed up, and in his place Rin was plagued all night with dreams of Sachiko instead. Sachiko with shiny black hair and a sharp bob embellished with quirky barrettes... Sachiko with fashionable shoes and cutely mismatched outfits... Sachiko and her group of diverse and breezy friends... 

Sachiko, free-spirited and with an engrossing personality...

Sachiko, holding Nitori's hand out of Rin's reach...

Sachiko, holding Nitori's heart and slowly taking him away...

 

~*~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry! :)  
> There's another part coming which I will update during the week, and I promise it has everything to do with a happy ending.  
> No sads for rintori babies ever.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin, Nitori, Sachiko...

Rin woke up feeling absolutely exhausted, but he still went to the park for his usual morning jog. He still had lingering traces of the image of Nitori’s smile in his heart, and even if a lap around the park would certainly not suffice to erase them, he hoped the exercise would at least diminish his uneasiness. It was a nice day, the cold weather had diminished and although the chilly sensation remained in the atmosphere, the hazy warmth of sun made up for it. 

He went to his usual spot to stretch and oncedone, he pulled out his portable music player and scrolled down the screen looking for his jogging playlist. He pressed play and as he finished wrapping the band around his arm a little girl bumped into him. She bounced backwards and tripped over her own ankles. Rin quickly reached out and managed to catch her arm before she hit the floor.

“Oi.You okay, kid?”

The girl stared at him with a slighty panicked expression, she had loose curls of light brown hair with short uneven bangs and soft blue eyes, and just as Rin’s brain was starting to catch up with the resemblance…

“Sachiko! Don’t run off like that!”

The sound of his voice made Rin’s heart race in anticipation. And sure enough the moment he raised his head to the source of the sound, Nitori jogged into his field of vision;  looking a little bit flustered and holding a big yellow kite in his hands.

"Nitori."

“R-Rin-senpai?!”

Before Rin could say anything the girl abruptly slipped away from his grasp and ran towards Nitori.

“Wha-? Sachiko! This is no way to behave. You just bumped into Rin-senpai and didn’t even say sorry.” 

She guiltily shifted her eyes from Nitori to Rin to back to Nitori, who encouraged her with a small nod. 

“Apologize please. And introduce yourself like mom taught you.”

The girl  timidly clutched her hands at her front making a short bow.

"“Nitori Sachiko. Four years old. I’m sorry”...and went to hid behind Nitori’s legs. The latter let out a sigh.

 

“She’s a bit shy.” He said as he gave her a reassuring pat in the back.” I’m sorry that she caused you trouble, Senpai.”

Rin however, was very far from feeling troubled. In fact he didn’t really feel anything but the rush of elation running through his body.

“She’s your sister!”

“Yeah! She’s a bit shy. She just turned five a few days ago and it seems like it still slips her mind, right Sachiko? You’re five now.”

“I have a younger sister too.”

“Really?  That’s great! Maybe we can get them together for a playdate sometime.”

 “Huh… she's... not that young. She’s your age actually.”

“Oh…”

There was a small awkward pause in which Rin felt like kicking himself but…

“Well, I’m sure Rin-senpai’s sister is a very kind person. I’d love to meet her too.” Aiichirou was right there to remind Rin how easy things were when it came to this boy.

And as he smiled at Rin sweetly while he held his little sister’s hand, Rin’s last night’s incredibly stupid and unnecessary dramatic behavior hit him like a rock. The whole thing suddenly seemed so silly. Little Sachiko was probably morescared of him than he had been of his own warped version of her. Rin gave her a small smile, and the girl, having been caught staring, immediately hid her blushing face behind Aiichirou’s legs.

 

“Sure… you’ll probably meet her next time. I come here every Sunday, and sometimes she comes with. I-I didn’t know you came here too...”

“Ah! We really don’t, Senpai. We usually do brunch on Sundays but this weekend my parents went out of town. So yesterday I had to leave Sachiko at my aunt’s and, as you know, I ended up staying at the school longer than expected...  I made her feel lonely, so I’m making up for it today. We came here to fly her kite!”

Rin shifted his eyes from the bright yellow paper toy to the small slope behind Aiichirou’s back where some other kids were jumping around and playing.

“Mhm.… the weather seems just fine, I think it'll work.”

"You think?"

He felt a small tug on his hand and looked down, without letting go of her brother Sachiko was pulling Rin in the direction of  the slope.

“Oh! No, Sachiko” Aiichirou gently pried her hand away from Rin’s clothing “Rin-Senpai can’t come with us. He has his morning jogging,  and he probably has other plans already…”

Aiichirou then raised his eyes at him, apologetical and yet unmistakably tinged with hope, and if Rin had had any plans before (not that he did) he certainly didn’t have any now.

 He knelt down to speak to Sachiko at eye-level.

“Actually I do. I’m going to help my mom at the bakery. Today is Valentine’s day and we are very busy; and you know what would be great? If you and your brother could come help us in the store after we fly the kite.”

 

“Seriously?” It was Aiichirou who answered, face brightening as he knelt down too. “Did you hear that, Sachiko? Would you like to help in Rin-senpai’s mom’s bakery?”

The girl nodded timidly and Aiichirou’s attention went immediately back to Rin.

“But Rin-senpai, what about your jogging?”

“Tch. The park is still going to be here at night, Ai.”

He might've grunted and mumbled, and averted his eyes;  but he still couldn't contain his face from spliting into a foolish smile. Aiichirou looked no better himself.  

 

“Well let’s go then!”

 He turned to his left and took a few steps towards the slope. Sachiko immediately stretched her arm and tugged at his jacket to call his attention.

“What? What is it?”

“Onii-chan really likes you…”

 

Aiichirou let out a distressed wail and then his voice became barely a whisper. 

“WAHH- Sachiko! Don't-Don’t just say things like that!”

Rin however, broke into genuinely a delighted laugh. Afterall, every shade in the world had dissolved and he felt like he could grab the sun and put it in his pocket. 

 

“Is that so, Sachiko-chan?” 

The girl nodded vehemently.

"I see..." He grinned teasingly at Aiichirou, kneeling back down as he took Sachiko’s hand and leaned close to whisper something in her ear.  Aiichirou for his part, cheeks still flushed and hands wrenched, tilted his head looking at them questioningly.

 

Sachiko broke apart from Rin raising her eyebrows iand immediately lunging towards her brother. The boy held her steady to prevent her from tripping again.

 

"Sachiko, what-"

She cupped her tiny hands against Aiichirou's ear.

 

“Onii-chan’s senpai said he really likes you too!”

 

 

 * ~  ~ * 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's done! :) Thank you all for putting up with me. Idk what else to say. I'm happy. 
> 
> Also, I've decided Nitori Sachiko looks like a younger version of this.  
> http://tonariwoaruite.tumblr.com/tagged/rintori_child


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